Martin Griff/The TimesBurlington first responders say there are a number of safety concerns on Burlington Island. Mayor Jim Fazzone issued an executive order in June prohibiting public access to the island.

BURLINGTON CITY — Emergency personnel lent their support last night to a mayoral order that bars access to Burlington Island without the consent of the city.

Frank Caruso, coordinator of the city's Office of Emergency Management, said at a council meeting that the 396-acre island is not equipped with fire suppression capabilities or any way to know who is on the island at a given time.

The island is overseen by the 330-year-old Board of Island Managers, an entity separate from the city. The board has provisionally engaged Woolman Community Development to redevelop the island, with plans to turn it into a historical theme park.

“There’s a false sense of security with Burlington Island,” police Sgt. John Fine said. “If we see a dangerous situation and we don’t make someone aware of it, we’re failing ourselves. The last thing I want is to have someone die on my hands because I failed to make someone aware of a dangerous situation.”

The island is 150 yards offshore, between Burlington and Bristol, Pa., so first responders cannot reach it quickly, Caruso said. It would take at least 40 minutes to take a patient off the island, EMS chief David Ekelburg said.

In July 2011, the police received a late-night call about 18 people fighting on the island, possibly with weapons. The police response was delayed because of a lack of marine transportation, Caruso said. By the time police arrived, the fight was over and the alleged instigator had escaped.

Nine incidents requiring emergency response have been reported over the last two years, Caruso said.

But many members of the public, including former council candidate Chancellor Van Sciver, pleaded for the council to open up the “unparalleled resource" to the public.

“No one else has this. For God’s sake, do not lock it away from the public because you’re afraid some knucklehead is going to canoe over there and break his leg,” Van Sciver said. “To make it so we can’t develop this resource is foolish.”

Council President Ila Marie Lollar, a former member of the island board, said she wanted to open the island when it was safe and legal to do so. But the safety concerns were valid, she said.

"I can’t wait for you to get that island developed in the manner it’s supposed to be and that we’d like to see," she said. "But if my kids said, ‘Mom, we want to go out to the island,’ at this point I’d absolutely put my foot down.”